


Occam's razor

by Cinicalamente



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Family, M/M, Mystery, Novel, Philosophy, Science Fiction, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22685041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cinicalamente/pseuds/Cinicalamente
Summary: Ishigami Senkuu is a scientist very passionate about his work, a lovable father x2, a kind husband, the son that everyone would like to have.Ishigami Senkuu is a boy who loves Science, Mecha and a space cat called Doraemon.Ishigami Senkuu is the only person who can make choices… in every universe.Ishigami Senkuu, in every universe, loves Asagiri Gen for sure._________Occam's razor (or law of parsimony - Latin: novacula Occami; lex parsimoniae) is the problem-solving principle that states that "Entities should not be multiplied without necessity." It is sometimes paraphrased by a statement like "the simplest solution is most likely the right one".
Relationships: Asagiri Gen & Ishigami Senkuu, Asagiri Gen/Ishigami Senkuu
Comments: 28
Kudos: 116





	1. Amneṡìa

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to this new fanfiction! This will be a little different from others. It's a journey of something I hope to write well because there will be a lots of themes.  
> Lately I'm scared to lose this idea because I no see it anywhere and it's my personal explication to the petrification beam... of course it's a sengen.  
> There will be different parts or well, call them arcs. I tag time by time hoping to not spoiler.
> 
> The first arc will be soft but also very angst at the end. There also will be smut chapters in this ff BUT I'll post them in another story, so everyone can read this! 
> 
> The second arc will be... different but much more similar to canon.
> 
> The third arc and maybe the last one closes the story.
> 
> Disclaimer: english isn't my native language so I hope you'll understand if there be mistakes.
> 
> I have this idea in January and want to write slowly but I have to do first that canon theory is revealed (yes, it's an option that could be interest also the original work lol)  
> More details will be added from pc very soon!
> 
> So... here we go...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every journey begins with a choice: this one starts from Senkuu's decision to get up and meet someone he can't recognize yet.

The moment you can feel what's going on around you, but it's difficult to open your eyes and the distorted images of the clearest dream merge with the intentions for the new day, that's when you appreciate more remembering who you are.

\---

For the first time in almost 16 years, Senkuu's mind when he woke up was completely empty. No plans for what he would do after school, no memories reworked in a dream whose emotions he could not control.

Nothing.

A logical and science-loving boy like him, who knew well that the human body never took a break from its functioning, especially the mind, had the premonition that something was going on, but did not know what.

Senkuu was not afraid, he had no memories of what had dragged him there... no, he hadn't moved from the bed, he hadn't had any blows, no part of his body hurt.

When he tried to open his eyes once again and this time he succeeded, he was not surprised to see a white ceiling.

As he rubbed them, he seemed to remember it was early in the morning, that he had to get up to go to high school. He had math at the first hour and in the afternoon he would stop at the chemistry club of which he was president.

Some images, the memories that until recently had not, had returned to occupy their place in his mind.

Another ordinary day, another day to devote himself to his experiments.

There was someone who had not yet arrived: Taiju.

Why hadn't he called him? Usually Taiju would just wake him up to tell that he would come to his house for breakfast, but maybe it was still too early.

He rubbed his eyes again. He really didn't want to get up, he almost seemed to feel every second that passed slower. As soon as he focused on the environment around him, he focused his gaze on the ceiling.

If he had the strength to control the alarm clock on the bedside table...

He turned slowly on the bed, swinging it slightly and this seemed strange to him. It almost looked like another bed, newer and bigger than his.

His eyes widened and he saw a bedside table different from that of his room. Maybe he had fallen asleep in Byakuya's room? Maybe he was at Taiju's house, so big guy didn't need to call him?

However, he was alone and remembered his friend's house, smaller than his own.

  
  


Suddenly, he felt something wet and heavy fall on his arm and jumped, hoisting himself up, moving the covers and rolling on the other side. However, he did not fall, did not scream, and nothing happened to him.

A small folded and heated towel, heavy with water that did not drip, had slipped into his lap. Relieving his anxiety for the fright, he picked it up and turned to place it somewhere, but he moved so quickly that for a few minutes the unknown room revolved around him.

He leaned against the headboard of the bed, closing his eyes, having nothing to do but wait. Those minutes took him forever. Maybe it was just his impression, but they were lasting more than 60 seconds each.

He clung with his fingers to what he felt under his hand, pinching the fabric of the pillowcase probably. It was wet, damp with sweat or perhaps from the water of the cloth. However, he wanted to check it, moving his hand even lower, on the covers and on his legs. It was all wet and now that he concentrated on his body, he had noticed how the cotton pajamas had clung to his skin. He opened his eyes again. Those sheets were well made, different from the white ones he had on his bed.

By now, he had ascertained that he was not in his room, that the bed was twice the size of the one in which he usually slept, but he could not recognize where he was.

He looked up and saw a chest of drawers as brown as the bedside table and the headboard of the bed. To his right was a door with a double closed door and a couple of paintings of landscapes affixed to the wall; on his left, in addition to another pillow on the empty side of the bed and another bedside table, there was a small room - already from there he could see clothes hanging on crutches and lacquered wooden shelves without a doubt used as a walking closet - and there was another chest of drawers out there, different from the first because it held a large mirror and many objects, some of which sparkled (probably jewels) in the sunlight that filtered through the glass window.

There were no shelves of books against the walls up to his bed and neither did his telescope set to look at Jupiter on clear nights... there were not even the models he had built or the components on which he used to experiment, abandoned on the disorderly desk. 

His school books and his high school uniform that he had always thrown on the chair in a corner were also gone.

Instead, that room was more adult and above all shared with someone. However those things could not belong to him or his father, the only person with whom he lived in the apartment (of which the room in which he had awakened could never be part of it given its size) and if they had moved, of certainly he would remember.

He would have remembered even if he had taken a room in a beautiful hotel the previous night.

  
  


Senkuu moved the blankets that still covered part of his legs and put his feet on the ground. To his surprise he touched a soft synthetic fur carpet and not the floor. The more he looked around, the more familiar that room now seemed, but at the same time distant, as when visiting a place seen before then only in a film.

Real, but at the same time fake because it had a memory filtered through a screen.

Maybe he was in a hotel room, furnished like that of some TV series that he had had the misfortune to watch in his life.

He didn't know it at all, but he was willing to find out.

  
  


He got up but the sudden dizziness forced him to sit down again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He had never had such a problem and luckily he had never been in poor health.

After a few minutes, he managed to get up and move a few steps towards the closed door. Only when his hand touched the handle did he cling with all his might to the metal which in his palm was incredibly cold.

He didn't even bother to close it behind him, captured as he was by the round details of the corridor wallpaper. It was empty except for a couple of paintings (identical to those of the double room but more colorful) and of the tables on which absolutely identical vases of flowers had been placed.

The other doors were closed.

Senkuu stopped beside the table outside the room from which he had left and stared at the decoration of the Chinese vase of white flowers that stood out on its support. It occurred to him spontaneously to think of jasmine, even though he knew that their petals were too thin to be.

Senkuu bent to smell them, but from the smell he realized that he could not identify them.

Yet he had more than moderate knowledge of the botanical world.

However, he could not help but notice that the flowers were fresh, a sign that it was probably a rather expensive structure, which a teenager like him could not afford at all. It was not his apartment or a bed and breakfast in which he had been able to stay. It almost seemed to him that he was no longer even in Japan.

He rubbed his feet on the parquet until he reached the flight of stairs, spying out of the corner of his eye the other doors in case they opened, but everything was silent.

He went down the first step, but again he had a shortcoming that forced him to hold on to both the handrail and to extend his arm towards the wall. The staircase was not very wide, on the contrary it seemed that it could have been descended by one person at a time, typical of houses for one family. He went down slowly and only when he finally reached the end of the staircase he noticed that there were other noises on that floor.

He followed his hearing, which led him a few meters further, through another corridor without any vase, to a room that was undoubtedly the kitchen.

The oil in the black pan sizzled, the double doors of the refrigerator were ajar, the table already set for three and busy cooking there was another person who turned his back on him.

Senkuu didn't recognize a boy with two-tone… (two-tone?) hair. He worn a large and comfortable sweater that covered him up to his bottom. Underneath he had thin trousers and was barefoot. Only then did Senkuu realize that there was a nice constant temperature in the house, even though the rays of a faint sun could be glimpsed from the windows. He hadn't noticed a thermostat in the hallway, but it was also true that he hadn't seen the rest of the building.

The other person also had an apron and muttered something to himself, probably what he had to do to keep everything from burning.

Senkuu sniffed the air, imbued with the smells of fried food and a sweeter note, perhaps coming precisely from the unknown or from flowers that also decorated that room.

The man, although focused on turning the eggs with the scoop, finally realized that he was not alone and turned around.

His hair - which Senkuu couldn't stop staring - was gathered in a tail and his skin - already visible for a couple of meters - shone in the neon light.

"Oh, good morning love!" He said without ceasing to smile at him. He did not change expression even in the face of Senkuu's confused one. "How are you now? Did you sleep well tonight?" he added before turning to lift the lid of another pot.

Senkuu couldn't help wondering who he was and why he had welcomed him in that familiar way.

A warmth in his chest almost made him want to meet him.

"Senkuu-chan? "The man murmured again, making him jump without realizing it. His attention was for the eggs and probably for the bacon now cooked in the pan so that he could turn off the stick and leave the kitchen unattended to get closer to Senkuu.

To the list of questions, which were increasing with the passing of the seconds, was also added that of how he knew his name.

Senkuu did not like to lose his temper. He firmly believed that everything had a logical reason why it happened and once he was determined to discover something he would not let himself be hampered by anything if he had not yet received a satisfactory answer.

This was one of the reasons he hadn't screamed in fear for waking up in an expensive house he had never seen before and the other was that he didn't feel at all in danger.

"Come," the other said in the meantime and, grabbing him by the hand, guided him - without even waiting for him to move alone - to the first chair around the table. "I guess you still feel weak, love. Wait..." he paused, leaning over him. Without Senkuu being able to interrupt or break free, the stranger rested his lips on his forehead for a few seconds. "Thank goodness! The fever has come down! We were worried, it was at least three days that you had it very high!"

Senkuu tried to say something, even if he wasn't sure what. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his waist. He deeply inspired his scent. It was pleasant.

Suddenly a name he had never uttered came into his mind.

"Gen..." he repeated aloud and felt a pair of soft and warm hands caressing his hair.

"What, Senkuu-chan? Do you missed me, right?" He asked in an even sweeter voice than before. "My love, today I will spend all day pampering you. After I take Hisui-chan to school and go back to have a nice hot shower together. Or maybe a bath is better? I have to change the sheets! And take another pajama, you sweated and the fever went away luckily... ah! I have to empty the dryer!" He scanned, remembering what he had to do and according to Senkuu it was already too much for a single person.

Senkuu, sensing that Gen was about to run away from his arms and for some strange reason, not wanting that to happen, intensified his grip.

"Hisui?" He whispered, trying to understand or at least remember that name as it happened with that of the unkno... of Gen.

"By the way..." Gen sighed, moving away from Senkuu's embrace with decision. "That sleepyhead should already be awake!"

He left the kitchen and took a few steps towards the stairs. Senkuu could feel his movements even without being able to see him. It was as if he knew him seriously, but his rational side wanted to scream that this was clearly not the case.

He had to remember what had happened before he woke up. But that beautiful house and Gen, who was probably his partner, did not belong to him at all.

"Hisui! Come and have breakfast, you'll be late! Hisui!" Gen screamed and his muffled voice suggested to Senkuu that he had gone upstairs.

After a few minutes someone was heard crying. Senkuu snapped at his feet, putting a hand on his head for the too fast movement. He didn't know why, but hearing Hisui - after all it had to be her - crying hurt. The girl's shrieks grew louder until she entered the kitchen.

However, the girl's eyes widened as soon as she noticed Senkuu and stopped making a fuss.

"Father! Has your fever broken?" She asked, approaching her chair. Senkuu sat down and stroked her head.

"Father…?" He echoed the little girl who just smiled at him. At that moment she looked incredibly like Gen.

"Father! You are my father, aren't you?"

"Of course, he's your father! The fever didn't make him unrecognizable!" Gen muttered, grabbing the still hot pans from the stove. He placed a small omelette and a slice of bacon on Hisui's plate and two fried eggs on their plates. "American breakfast today! Are you happy, Hisui-chan?"

"Oh, it looks yummy!" She exclaimed, but continued to look at Senkuu. "Father, you didn't answer me yet!"

"I'm fine," he stammered, unable to shake off that strange feeling of being among people he knew even without remembering who they were.

Yet he had remembered Gen's name and, looking at the little girl, had managed to see himself as a child, as if at that moment he had a moving photo album like those in Harry Potter.

"Heard, Hisui-chan? Now sit down and eat that you still have to brush your teeth and comb your hair."

"But I don't want to go to school!"

Gen looked at Senkuu bored. That look reminded him that in reality every morning Hisui repeated the same sentence, crying for not wanting to go to school even if there were no problems. It was Gen himself who asked the teachers and they had all ensured that the girl was well liked by everyone and had no problems with the study, even if this was more than enough, he had taken a day off to follow her and check her in case in which she had clashes outside or if she was afraid of the external environment, but nothing had happened to her, in the end both Senkuu snd Gen had decided that Hisui's reasons were just tantrums.

Even though all this Senkuu didn't remember doing it at all.

"Why? Your father and I are committed to making you feel good... why don't you want to go there? Any problems? You know you can talk to us," he replied seriously, but Hisui just shook her head proudly.

"No! It's just that..."

  
  


While the two talked and had breakfast, even though Gen often stopped telling the girl to sit composed in her place, Senkuu could not help thinking about his words before.

Gen had said that he was the father of the little girl, or rather apparently of their little girl, but it was not so. He was not that Senkuu. Before his eyes, he had fragments of everyday life without having felt it on his own skin. Also how could a high schooler like him have a daughter...

He sighed looking at her. He had to attend at least elementary school, considering her height and the way she behaved. She probably must have been less than 10 but more than 5.

Not that he understood anything about children.

Maybe she was the daughter of Gen alone, but some details in that little girl reminded him of himself... he had never been fussy - Byakuya was happy and had always said it to everyone to brag about it - but comparing her to him, the little girl had to have roughly 6 years.

How could he have had a 6 year old daughter?

  
  


Gen also looked like a teenager, perhaps nearly 20 years old, but still too young to have had a daughter.

The more he thought about it logically, the more his mind adapted and ignored his questions as already resolved.

  
  


Senkuu would never have bent to contemplate an explanation with unscientific elements, but suddenly the option of exchanging bodies between people who shared his own name did not seem so absurd to him.

He had to find a mirror.

It was embarrassing that he now also had to consider a hypothesis that seemed to have come out of the pages of a novel, but in those conditions, he had nothing to commit to.

  
  


"But that's not fair! If father remains here, I want to stay too, dad!"

_ Dad? _

Senkuu looked at Gen but couldn't remember anything. Indeed two men could not have had children, unless...

"Ishigami-Asagiri Hisui! How many times do I have to tell you that you have to stop acting up and going to school without you wasting energy like this every morning!?"

"Ugh!"

  
  


"Hisui, don't make dad angry now," Senkuu said calmly. The phrase mechanically came out of his mouth, surprising him but not making anyone present react. "When you come back, after doing your homework, you have plenty of time to play."

"All the time? Love, what do you say? Today there is the piano lesson!" Gen corrected him, "today is Thursday! You have lost track of time because of the fever, poor baby," he added, grabbing the glass in front of Senkuu to fill it with juice. However Senkuu, except for the initial weakness, could not understand how the fever had come about, since he was rarely ill. Gen had meanwhile caressed him. "Maybe American breakfast is a little heavy for you, but you will be hungry since you haven't eaten in days!"

  
  


"Father will be fine?" Hisui asked tearfully. "I don't want him to die!"

Gen leaped. "Hisui!"

"I won't... I won't die, Hisui," Senkuu reassured her. "Gen, thank you. I'm okay with some toasted bread," he said to his husband who smiled at him and left not before having patted him on the cheek.

  
  


He saw Gen put the slices of bread in the toaster and, while the appliance ticked, hurry to get a jar of jam from the top cabinet, walk towards the exit to take a brush from the drawer of the cabinet and also to comb the long blonde hair of Hisui in a ponytail. When the minutes passed, after having removed the plug from the small appliance, Gen washed his hands and took the slices to bring them to him.

  
  


Suddenly, considering the super speed of the man in front of him, Senkuu thought that the fantasy elements were not totally excluded.

  
  


"Dad, I'm done, I'm not hungry anymore," Hisui scanned, extending her arm forward and pushing the empty plate with her hand. "I'm going to brush my teeth," she announced before jumping off the chair and moving it without sliding it across the floor. "Father, have a nice day, see you tonight!"She said goodbye and Senkuu smiled. Hisui also smiled and ran away.

Gen shook his head and placed his hands on Senkuu's shoulders, leaning over him to embrace him.

Senkuu almost expected such contact even though he couldn't explain it.

"Love, can I leave you alone here? Do you want something else to eat? Or do you prefer to lie on the sofa? Do you want me to bring your tablet so you won't be bored?" He asked, giving him little kisses on the forehead and the nose. Senkuu felt his cheeks grow warmer, but he let him do it, feeling that every kiss was a fair reward for all the confusion he had in the head. "Do you need me to buy anything, love? Any magazine that came out today or don't know... something good you want me to cook? I don't say any energy drinks because I could never let you drink that now! "

"But you drink cola," Senkuu replied, wondering as soon as he had finished talking why he never mentioned that of all the drinks.

"But I'm not the one who was delirious because of the high fever these days, love, so it seems to me that I have to be careful of you now!" Gen chuckled, giving him another kiss, this time longer than the previous ones on the temple.

"Daaaaaaad, let's go!"

Gen straightened up.

"Senkuu-chan," he sighed, taking his hands, "I'll be back in 15 minutes, don't get cold and finish your breakfast, okay? I love you!"

Senkuu's eyes widened, blushing even more and just nodding as Gen took off his apron.

"Incredible how after all these years, you react like the first time I told you that, remember?"

Without waiting for his answer, Gen retrieved the keys from the same drawer he had opened earlier and left.

Senkuu instead sat there in silence, wondering why if he had been lucky enough to be so loved, he couldn't remember it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♤ The title for this first chapter is Amnesia and I think I don't have to put a note about its meaning :)
> 
> ◇ Also Hisui is the name I wanted to use since the start for a oc in dr. Stone universe (or others). It means Jade so I'll use for another ff too.
> 
> To the next chapter!


	2. Faneric Mimicry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senkuu and his thoughts are aloud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this story! It will be a little slow in the plot development so there will be a few chapters only about thoughts and hypothesis. Next week I have an exam and the next after another one so I don't know if the next update will be posted on Thursday/Friday or late but I love this story so much (RIP Stoneymoon for now)  
> In the next we'll see some sengen fluff and something more 👀
> 
> So enjoy this now, please 💚💜  
> English isn't my native language, sorry for mistakes!  
> In the final note there are a few notes about something in the chapter.

Despite appearances, he knew well that something was wrong and that others would soon notice it.

Animals in nature that knew how to blend in with the environment did not survive long without being discovered and recognized as strangers.

\---

Senkuu had heard the sound of the engine of the car that Gen was driving to take Hisui to school fade until it disappeared, but he remained there, alone, although he had no reason to do it. It was not like him not to try to make even an attempt to find out what was happening.

He sighed.

He ignored his stomach which had started to grumble at the sight of the food, and stood up, feeling more secure on his legs.

But his gaze fell on the plate still full of Gen.

That was supposed to be their routine. Gen made breakfast for everyone without even touching his own and it made his nose turn up.

He didn't think about or wonder what he should do. He took his plate and placed his portion of food next to his husband's uneaten one and covered it with the empty plate.

Then he left the kitchen to explore that house which he unfortunately did not remember.

He summed up what he had noticed: Taking stock of the situation was perhaps the thing he preferred most when faced with a mystery.

According to what Gen and Hisui had said (besides having understood it when he woke up with sweaty pajamas), he had have a high fever for three days. An unusual fact already on its own, which however seemed ordinary, considering that he only remembered being a teenager while on waking he found himself married and father of a child.

There had been no significant reactions regarding his appearance, which meant that from the outside he looked as usual or at least as they were used to seeing him.

The human body was a machine that only two things could spoil it: time and the men themselves. To be a parent, it was clear that at least from the outside he should have had some different sign than he remembered he was. As he had previously thought, he needed a mirror.

Senkuu was not ready to accept a non-logical explanation. However, his innate curiosity pushed him to look for the answer to the series of questions increasingly confused and overwhelmed by a non-belonging way of life.

He even thought that he had approached a life he probably didn't deserve. This was what distracted him from making some assumptions and also not knowing exactly where the bathroom was in that huge house.

In his young life, Senkuu had never been to a house like this. He had never seen them so close and above all, it could not belong to him for obvious reasons, although he felt comfortable there.

A little while when he had remembered Gen's name before without ever pronouncing it before, even the rooms around him took on more details and shape in his mind only after a few minutes.

He narrowed his eyes to get used to the sun's rays penetrating the half-open curtains.

In addition to the little lights on what he considered to be the security alarm, the other light source came from the kitchen. Gen didn't open the windows there, but he needed light to cook and make sure his family started the day with the right mood.

Or it was better to say that everyone there was used to that soft semi-darkness before leaving their safe nest.

Living in a house also meant knowing it so well that it was able to find every single room and walk there even with your eyes closed. This was also the principle behind the mnemonic technique of the loci, but Senkuu could not think of a single object in that house, if not the ones he had seen since he opened his eyes that morning.

But that was to be his life and home.

He had a family here.

Senkuu ignored the true reflection he had come to even though a part of himself could not keep silent.

**_"If this isn't my life... why am I here?"_ ** he asked to himself, knowing he was alone.

He often spoke aloud to himself, sometimes he laughed, sometimes he cried and screamed. For the first time, he would have liked someone to deal with because it seemed completely absurd to him.

He leaned over and noticed that on the other side of the corridor was the living room.

It was large and in keeping with the bedroom decor.

The kitchen, on the other hand, was much simpler and more practical. Useful and functional. Probably when they had guests, non-members of the family did not have access to that room so... intimate.

Senkuu forgot again - apparently - of his quest to enter the living room and get lost in looking at it. He did not sit on the long sofa, even if it seemed comfortable, he tried not to stumble on the carpet that covered half the floor and he did not even look at the piano that filled a third of the room.

_He would put it by the window_ , he considered.

 _But Hisui was afraid of thunder and on rainy days it would have been impossible for her to approach the instrument_ , he suddenly remembered.

His daughter had in fact decided where to put the piano in that house and he, as then, could not protest.

Senkuu brought both hands to his forehead. These associations were random, he told himself, a bit like what happened to people who, having suffered physical or mental trauma, simply forgot.

He excluded, however, that his inability to remember everything was related to an accident because there was the unhealthy habit of treating people who had suffered trauma of any kind as if they were like a crystal ball without understanding them or putting themselves in their shoes. Furthermore, Senkuu had not suffered any injuries and certainly his family would have treated him differently.

That mysterious fever was supposed to be just... _a fever_.

Senkuu looked up in front of him and noticed the flat screen of the TV leaning against the support on the wall. He passed the sofa and watched its reflection widen and deform along the black surface of the appliance.

He still needed a mirror, not looking at random objects and hoping for lighting. Under those conditions he would never have found a sufficient answer to...

He winced with a sudden noise that didn't stop. It was the ringtone of a very close telephone. He looked around and immediately saw the landline's light flashing and an annoying preset melody rumbling against the wood of the shelf on which it was resting.

He wondered who still used that way to communicate and raised an eyebrow in thinking that it probably had happened somewhere in the past.

That theory, however fascinating, was closer to fantasy than reality. What he hadn't foreseen was the acoustic signal to interrupt his considerations.

"Senkuu, Gen!"

Senkuu ran to the phone and reached out to pick up the phone, locking himself just in time. He had recognized that voice, it was his father's, but if he started a conversation with him, he would have risked betraying himself.

The feeling of peace of having found someone he knew was replaced by fear of feeling hurried.

"Are you okay? As soon as you hear this message call me, okay?"

Senkuu, however, could not believe it.

His father was aboard a spaceship from what he knew about it. After years of fruitless attempts he had managed to make his dream of going to space come true, it made no sense that he was on the other end of the phone.

However Senkuu didn't even know he had a family until he woke up. He had to be surprised by the possibility that everything he knew had actually been changed and for now he could only take note of the life around him.

Byakuya's voice seemed nervous and never remembered hearing him like that.

"We are fine, don't worry! Has Senkuu's fever broken? Is the little princess doing well? Keiichi has woken up and is now playing with his stuffed animal, but I think he will soon start to cry, he is waiting for breakfast! Don't worry that I won't leave him without food!"

Senkuu lowered his hand, letting Byakuya speak again. Then he closed his eyes as he listened to his father's voice laughing joylessly. The minutes were filled with words he didn't listen to at all.

Only when there were complaints in the background, which made Senkuu's eyes widen, his father apologized and hang up to calm the boy.

He had no reason to even wonder who Keiichi was.

Apparently their family had one more member.

Senkuu put a hand on the back of his neck and stretched before he looked at the other shelves of the cabinet in front of which he was standing.

When he turned around, he looked at what he had so far ignored. Among what appeared to be heavy volumes of encyclopedias (he had also recognized a couple of books quantum physics he had read as a child), there were also framed photos that he would have liked to remember.

He had no other way - at least for now - to get to know his family, so it was worth doing it through their past photos.

He stared at the first frame to his viewing height and touched it with his fingertips. His lips curved into a barely pronounced smile.

The frames had been made very roughly by handmade by small hands, probably by Hisui as soon as she had learned to color and for this, they were even more invaluable.

In the photo Senkuu had found, there were two children, Hisui and one much younger than her, without a shadow of a doubt Keiichi, sitting on the sofa. Senkuu smiled as he looked at his children in the snapshot.

**_His children, umh?_ **

_He would never have thought that such a scenario was possible. He wanted nothing more than to go into space and serve science with his own life, but having a family didn't seem like that bad..._

Hisui also had a little brother, who judging from the photo was perhaps a couple of years old. It was unthinkable that a parent like Gen - protective enough as he had warned from his memory in the kitchen - would not have always wanted a child next to him in case he was still an infant. However Senkuu admitted that he didn't understand much about children.

Keiichi was probably with Byakuya to avoid getting infected with his fever. His family had certainly had terrible days.

Senkuu was losing sight of what he set out to do, he was letting himself be distracted too easily.

He wanted to be able to look in the mirror when he was alone so as not to worry about his reaction.

He expected to find an older version of himself in front of his eyes and this for some obscure reason troubled him.

No one would have accepted the pace of time without having lived it, especially for a life that had totally detached itself from what it was sure to have.

Senkuu had not touched his face, after all he would not have had a clear picture of his appearance and in reality he felt that what he had to understand was not related to his look.

He hadn't counted how many minutes Gen was gone, but he was assumed he was going to come back in moments. It was not like him to think of anything other than science.

However, he stared at the photo of his children and felt a warmth in his chest that he had never thought he wanted to try.

He wanted to meet his son, he wanted to hug him, he wanted to listen to his daughter playing the piano, he wanted to walk with her on the street, holding her hand so as not to lose her in the crowd, he wanted to ask his husband how his day had gone and give him a kiss before leave home for work.

He simply wanted his family next to him.

He tightened his hands around the frame, a sudden knot tightened his throat.

That was not his family. He never would have been and there was nothing he could do about it.

The only thing he hoped he could do was go back to his life and leave it to the another Senkuu - more adult and luckier than him - all of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♤ The meaning of the title of this chapter is:
> 
> Faneric Mimicry (from the Greek phaneros, manifest) = The ability of one organism to imitate another, in order to take advantage of it. In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species.
> 
> ◇ I find the name of the second sengen child on google of course! And it is:
> 
> Keiichi (圭一) that means "Son precious as a jewel"
> 
> I'm not so sure about the name of their son but I like the idea that his name and that of his sister are linked.


	3. The Barnum Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently not only Senkuu is searching for answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry so much for being late with updates! I didn't take my exam because back to the last month, the situation in Italy is very hard. But I take too much time for this chapter because I couldn't make translation good enough and I dislike a few details in the text so I wasn't sure about what I wrote but this chapter existes so finally I can publish it.
> 
> The next one will come soon! And also other works, i promise! 💘

We had to act, go on.

Go beyond yourself and others.

Do not be persuaded or attracted, however difficult it was.

There were always at least two versions of the same story.

\---

Senkuu knew well that this wasn't his place. In his hands he felt the weight of photos that had stopped moments that he had never lived, memories that for those people had been fundamental as Hisui's first school day, Keiichi's birth, the day of wedding of Gen and someone who it looked the same as himself.

For an instant, as soon as Senkuu recognized his own features in the photo of the two spouses, he tried to remember that day, as if he had actually lived it.

_ Was he perhaps convincing himself that he had experienced it firsthand? _

He put the frame back in its place and left the living room, watched out of the corner of his eye the number of the message saved flashing on the telephone display.

Senkuu was once again sure that if he answered that call, he would only mess up things that were already complicated.

But he knew, thinking back to his father's worried voice, that it hadn't been a fair decision. He ignored what was happening inside and outside the walls of that house.

He went in the hallway, looking and staring at the other doors. One of those had to lead to the bathroom. He approached and reached out to lower the handle and then stopped, doubting that he was alone. Perhaps the bathroom was occupied by someone who had yet to meet. It was rather unlikely, but now he could not take anything for granted.

He sighed loudly and opened the door wide, revealing the room he was looking for. Yet he wrinkled his nose. He had expected something with the same style of the other rooms, something that would have drawn attention and admiring comments, instead it was a simple bathroom.

It was not as neat as the other rooms where the family spent more time, as if it had been left to itself for a few days without being used. There was some dust on the porcelain bathroom fixtures and the window was closed and blocked.

_ At least there was a mirror _ , Senkuu noticed and turned on the light. The little round neon flickered and stabilized only after a short while. He positioned himself in front of the sink, bringing both hands to his chin and then to his hair.

They were exactly as he remembered them, except for the frontal locks that now framed his face while before he had only one that weighed on his forehead. His eyes and even the dark circles he had earned after sleepless nights spent reading instead of sleeping were there.

Now these were probably the result of the difficulties and worries given by managing his current life.

No, he couldn't call it  **his** .

Some slight wrinkles furrowed his forehead and even the corners of his mouth as when he grimaced, only to remain there without disappearing as soon as he changed his expression. The person to whom that loving family belonged must have been at least ten years older than him.

As if getting older was the price to pay to find one's happiness or at least try. He would have liked to know more about the life of those in front of him without even remembering that he should not be there.

What was it now?

_ A journey through time to the borders of what the scientific mind already classified as mere fantasy? _

As absurd as it was, he found no other justification for his body, if he could define it, after all. Or maybe it was just a strange dream with which he could use his senses, a collage of elements that in fact he had never thought he wanted to have for himself.  _ A dream that could only be a confused collection of scenes from a film he had never watched. _

Gen's sweet scent, Hisui's smile, or even the concern that made Byakuya's voice vibrate had been so real that even his mind - however it was a bright mind - could not replicate so well.

He rubbed the palms of his hands against his face, moving them to be able to look at himself reflected in the mirror.

Now he knew it was him from the outside. He was incredibly equal to himself with a few more years and awareness.

He stretched out his arm to open the tap to wash his face, but was startled to hear a noise coming from the front door.

He checked over the threshold and saw Gen looking around and then typing something on the alarm system keypad.

"Love, I'm back! Are you in the kitchen?" he asked, holding onto the wall with one hand to take off his shoes. Then he bent elegantly to retrieve them and place them on the shelf of the shoe rack. Without even giving him time to respond, Gen took a deep breath. "My love, where are you?!" He insisted.

He turned and ran into the living room.

"I'm here," Senkuu replied, unable to remain silent further. It was not only Byakuya who was worried but also Gen. He can't help coming out of the bathroom and approaching him, who looked at him with bright eyes and ran to him. Gen threw his arms around Senkuu's neck, clinging to his husband as if it were a matter of life or death. An another incredibly long sigh escaped his lips, but Senkuu didn't notice. 

He was too focused on the body that was shaking against his.

Whatever it was - what worried Byakuya and Gen - had to be pretty serious.

"Th… thank goodness! You're okay, Love, you're okay!" Gen sobbed, turning his face to be able to leave gentle kisses on his temple, hair, cheek and wherever he could get close.

"Yes..." Senkuu murmured helplessly. He didn't know what to say without ruining everything. He just tightened his arms around Gen, hoping it could be enough to make him stop shaking.

"Thank goodness," Gen repeated, tightening his fingers around the damp cloth of Senkuu's pajamas. "Ah... sorry, I should prepare your..." he considered but he was unable to finish his sentence, busy as he was in enjoying their embrace.

"It's all right," Senkuu found himself saying, turning to face Gen. It was something that a man in love would easily say. He moved away to bring his hands to his husband's eyes and wipe away the tears he hadn't shed yet. He stroked the skin of his face for no reason. "I'm here," he added, lowering his head until their lips were only a few centimeters apart.

Senkuu knew they would kiss each other.

They were still married and their relationship seemed more than happy, but he could not at least think of something to which in reality his peers devoted all their energy and to which he had not dedicated attention. Oddly, he barely blushed. Hoping that Gen hadn't noticed, he continued, "It's all right now, isn't it?"

Unexpectedly, Gen looked away and turned away, breaking their contact.

Senkuu was alarmed.

He didn't want to do something that would take him away, that wasn't the reaction he hoped to get... he didn't want to put some distance between them. At least not now that he looked so rough.

"Thanks, Love. Maybe I have exaggerated a bit but we are all tense in these weeks... but what were you doing in the broken bathroom?" He asked, walking to the door to close it, looking out inside to turn off the light. "I already told you that it doesn't matter to fix it now, by the way I'm going to get the thermometer..."

"Byakuya called," Senkuu interrupted him, blocking him. "I was unable to answer and it gone to the voicemail..."

Gen's eyes widened and passed by him to enter the living room. After a few seconds, Byakuya's voice filled the air.

Senkuu leaned against the door jamb, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Gen more closely. His shoulders were still twitching and he was breathing slowly through his mouth until his father said he and Keiichi were okay. Those words allowed Gen's expression to soften instantly, relaxing. Once again he sighed.

Something worried both Gen and Byakuya, something that as he had heard it had been present for weeks...  _ but what is it? _

His head was so confused and Senkuu Ishigami didn't like it at all.

A part of himself would have preferred to let it go and speak clearly; ask Gen-with-bicolor-hair why he was there when he was just a teenager, but he couldn't open his mouth. Even his usual lack of touch didn't work.

Gen sniffed and after typing all the numbers he did need, he blocked the receiver in the hollow between his shoulder and neck. He looked athSenkuu briefly before returning to his former position.

"Papa-san," he greeted him, playing with the telephone line, "I'm so happy to know you're okay! What is Keiichi-chan doing? Senkuu-chan has woken up, the fever has gone down, but I still have to measure it for him, but his forehead didn't burn," he explained, stopping to wait for his answer. "Hisui-chan, on the other hand, made a fuss as always, but then she went to school quietly. She has piano lessons today... yes, thank you very much!"

Senkuu preferred to listen to his husband without intervening.

Byakuya had to be proud of how he had such a close family now, considering that his father had spent all his youth telling him that he had to talk more to other people and not lock himself in his room forever.

\---

The more Senkuu looked at Gen, the more he was sure his husband had super powers.

Gen had taken the thermometer and measured his fever (it broke indeed), cleaned up the kitchen, vacuumed, ironed dry clothes and started the new washing machine.

In addition, Gen had also been concerned about changing the sheets on the double bed and started preparing lunch.

No one had asked the other why he hadn't finished his breakfast, a sign that it was their usual routine and Senkuu could not find any explanations for it. Yet they seemed very close or maybe a couple didn't work like that, after all Senkuu had no experience with it.

He had stood there looking at him so much that Gen had asked him if he wanted to bathe even if Senkuu had refused before. Then he asked him if he needed something or wanted to read a bit on the sofa, but Senkuu simply couldn't take his eyes off him.

Finally the time for the bath had come. He had followed Gen upstairs and only when the man had turned on the bath-tub tap, Senkuu spoke.

"I remembered you lazier," he commented. It was clearly a lie, he didn't remember Gen at all. However since his awakening, Senkuu had realized that he had less confusion in his mind and almost managed to get several pictures of the past of that perfect family.

He also had an idea of what was going on, but it was so absurd that it didn't completely convince him.

In addition, he was also more confident on his own legs and the dizziness that forced him to sit as soon as he woke up was now gone.

Gen, however, unaware of his thoughts, did not reply immediately. He ran his fingers over the water level to test its temperature and gave him a single smile before turning off the tap.

"I love to do nothing, but I also have to do what is best for my family... don't forget," Gen sighed, standing up and running his fingers over his pants, "they said:  _ 'responsibilities came first' _ , Senkuu-chan!"

So he took the soap, the washcloth, the stool and placed them next to a little fountain. Senkuu stood still, knowing well that he had to undress. He had no problem doing it in front of Gen, after all they were married and had two children. There was nothing he hadn't seen. Yet he waited for what he wanted to do, almost studying the other man.

"Senkuu-chan, it's time for your bath~, if you need anything else, call me. Stay warm- "

"Wait," Senkuu stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist although his voice had already been enough to stop him. "Don't you want to take a bath too?"

Gen looked down at where Senkuu's hand was touching him and turned his head slightly to sniff at his own shoulder.

"I didn't say that for that!" Senkuu added, lowering his hand to slide it over his husband's - if he could really use that term for him - and smirked. "You don't need a bath, I mean you might want to take it..."

A full smile, unlike what he had seen before, illuminated Gen's face.

His expression did not promise anything good.

Gen chuckled.

"Ah... Senkuu-chan wants cuddles! Okay," he said softly. It was so fast that Senkuu didn't even have time to protest, even it was what he actually wanted. The boy took off his pajama shirt, looking up only to throw it in the basket of dirty clothes. Gen had approached his stool and waited for him to be completely naked to open the water.

Senkuu then took off the rest of his pajamas, not even bothering to cover himself with a towel even if he didn't feel the other's gaze on him. He sat down and waited for him to start touching him. He could only hear him kneel behind him.

He saw Gen's bare arm reach forward to open the fountain, a sign that he had at least taken off his sweater.

The water was just flowing.

"Love... don't catch cold, okay? Your fever just broke, I know, but don't risk too much. I'll try to do it as quickly as possible."

Senkuu nodded as he heard the sound of the bath gel being opened. Gen put his hand against the other man's back, touching him gently. He did not use the washcloth he had taken so carefully. There was nothing that could hinder his touch.

"Ah, Senkuu-chan..." he sighed suddenly as he moved his fingers lower. He pressed them to the skin, moving them along curved lines as if they were following a drawing.

Senkuu, however, didn't think that he had got a tattoo growing up. It was something he would never have included in his life... as well as having children or a family after all.

Meanwhile, Gen's fingers described another half-circle and yet another as if they never ended.

"You're tense," he pointed out, whispering against his still dry hair. "Do I have to remind you of something?"

The only noise that was heard was that of water that continued to flow on the floor, sliding on the tiles and along the joints to the drain. And if chills that Senkuu had could make a noise, he would have heard that for sure.

Gen, faced with his silence, took the washcloth and continued to wash him with it, denying him the slightest contact of his fingertips.

A simple layer of fabric had compromised an all too precarious balance.

"Senkuu-chan has an excellent memory," he suddenly commented, leaving the task of starting the civil war to his voice. Senkuu could not help but listen, remembering how kind was his touch before.

The temperature room was suddenly lowered like the show time was over because the leading actor is missed.

Senkuu thought he took his older alter ego's existence would be discovered, but didn't expect it to happen so quickly. It was inevitable... the relationship between Gen and his man had to be really deep. He could never have replaced himself without raising doubts.

What was about to happen was crucial: Gen could very well kick him out of the house and drive him away, although nobody knew the truth.

His husband, or rather the husband of the man he had replaced, continued to wash him, opening his mouth only to warn him that he was about to pour water on him in order to rinse the foam.

The flow of thoughts in Senkuu's mind swirled. There was certainly something he could say even once.

"The infinite..."

Senkuu finally murmured. 

He had often met that word and had often seen that symbol romanticized by teenagers who daydreamed the best happy ending for themselves.

The sound of his voice was light, unlike the sound of the container that Gen had raised from the ground filled with water which poured out at their feet.

Senkuu turned to grab him by the wrist. Gen, without a sweater, found himself with the rest of his clothes completely wet and hardly balanced.

They looked each other until it was painful for Gen to hold his gaze.

He closed his eyelids and dropped the bucket which he slammed to the ground somewhere next to the tub.

"The drawing you were tracing with your fingers like the first time we made love. You told me that's destiny between us and I..."

Gen opened his eyes suddenly. "Shut up, please."

However, the other did not listen to him.

"... I told you that those who seek confirmation in such vague signs are actually subjugated by the Ba..."

"Don't…"

"The Barnum effect," Senkuu explained. "Where you have touched me, I have three moles. Or at least It's what you repeated to me. You said that while your fingers draw a infinite symbol. You laughed as you said you would do it every time, every day but not for destiny. You would have done it for the desire to be together. Ours desire."

Gen finally looked up again at Senkuu's panting face.

"Actually I also told you that sappy thing after having an orgasm, I didn't care at all to hear you say words with more than one syllable in that situation... but yes. What I wanted to hear was... that..."

"It's quite romantic actually," he spontaneously commented.

Gen shrugged.

His Senkuu would have felt a little fake annoyance in talking about such a thing even in the intimacy of the bathroom of their home.

"It happens when you're with someone who means a lot to you."

They were silent.

They were too intelligent not to know that the series of questions that only the other could try to answer was still in the air without being able to take shape.

Senkuu snickered and finally let go of the grip around Gen's wrist.

And he spoke:

"It's really true. Ishigami Senkuu has an excellent memory."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The meaning of the title of this chapter is:
> 
> ♧ The Barnum effect, also called the Forer effect, or less commonly the Barnum-Forer effect, is a common psychological phenomenon whereby individuals give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically to them, that are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. This effect can provide a partial explanation for the widespread acceptance of some paranormal beliefs and practices, such as astrology, fortune telling, aura reading, and some types of personality tests.


	4. Déjà vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Repeat button isn't so comfortable in real life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♡ Today is my birthday and I want to do something special to celebrate. The first idea was to reach today the plot twist chapter but it wasn't possible... so i thought, let's update the story with words! 
> 
> ♧ For my coming back, I've posted two chapters to answer a lots of questions (I would make a part 1 and a part 2 but the next chapter is longer than this lol)... minus a few of them, BUT next chapters will be posted early 💙 Thank you for your patience and be safe!
> 
> ◇ I start a ko-fi page but I'm so embarrassed to link it so never mind but if you like or want to tell me something, feel free to comment (is more important than a virtual coffee tbh) and support me! ♡
> 
> ♤ This chapter has a different pov: Gen's one. It looks similar to the previous one but there are a few new moments and new considerations.

It was both a strange and a known sensation. 

As if time had gone back to that moment that he didn't think was so fundamental, but in reality nothing came back.

\---

Gen Asagiri's life was organized in a rigid routine, although in reality he seemed to be the most superficial person in the world.

Before the alarm went off, Gen opened his eyes. When he wasn't married, he had his job and afterwards, his family had been pushing him out of bed every morning. Both chosen for love, both tiring.

So he couldn't afford to laze.

After arranging the blankets in their place and yawning, he went to the bathroom and stayed there for about three quarters of an hour.

When he opened the door, he went out dressed already to accompany his daughter to school and Senkuu to work.

However, it wasn't the only thing he had to do at the time.

He had to change his youngest son, wake his eldest daughter, check that his husband was not late, prepare breakfast - the most important meal of the day - and he also took care of Senkuu's lunch on his request (despite the opportunity to have lunch at his workplace, he was able to fast in order to not meet his colleagues in the canteen).

The breakfast menu was also mainly on request - especially from Hisui - always curious to try new meals.

For Gen, their tastes weren't a problem. He knew many recipes and had traveled far enough to have tried exquisite courses from the most loved cuisines in the world firsthand.

Before calling himself Japanese, Gen loved to call himself cosmopolitan.

Now he couldn't make his family travel as easily, but that didn't stop him from bringing the world to them.

After cooking, he made sure everyone ate and that the little one was sitting comfortably on his high chair. Keiichi started crying exactly when her sister screamed she didn't want to go to school, not a single second before. Then he took care of Hisui and her long blond hair, took off his apron and took the car keys.

Senkuu placed Keiichi on his seat while the last one to leave the house was Hisui who pretended to cry because she didn't want to go to school.

As soon as she heard the word piano or anything else she liked, she stopped, agreeing to sit composed next to her brother.

However, that morning something was unusual, and he wasn't just referring to having had less to do, considering that Senkuu hadn't gone to work and Keiichi was with Byakuya.

He wasn't even referring to Hisui who had been acting up as always, forgetting about it as soon as she got into the car.

Gen, for the first time since he had his wedding ring on his own finger, had found his husband pretty unusual.

Senkuu had had a high fever until the last time he measured it (before bed time) and now his temperature had luckily returned to normal. Upon awakening he had seemed quite stunned and confused, coming to suffer his kisses and hugs and to blush to his _I love you_ , as if he had returned the same person who Gen had met that hot summer afternoon many years ago.

He also couldn't stop thinking about what Hisui had said before.

His daughter had inherited the talent for lies from him, although luckily there was still innocence in her that she couldn't fool her own parents.

Hisui's mind was also logical; Gen had always compared her to a small version of Senkuu, but with a passion for music. A perfect combination of the two of them. So although she was only a child, Hisui never said anything she wasn't convinced of or that didn't bring her an advantage. A personality that Gen admired but at the same time feared that one day he would no longer be able to manage.

At the traffic light, before being able to pass the road crossing, Gen stroked the blonde head of the little girl, busy playing with his phone a sort of tetris with candies. Hisui shook and touched dad's hand without pulling it away.

She was incredibly affectionate, logical, but affectionate. The man's smile softened. Even a spoiled child - though it hurt to admit it - was still not ashamed of her dad.

The traffic light went green and Gen was forced to focus again on the road and the steering wheel. Hisui snorted and started looking for another more interesting game.

"Sweetie, what do you have as a lesson today?" Gen asked to make conversation. "Are you sure you're not tired for piano, afterwards?"

Hisui nodded, frowning at an obstacle that the little man in the game ran into.

"I like playing the piano... grandpa comes to pick me up at school?" She asked without looking up from the screen.

Byakuya loved his grandchildren and used every opportunity to see them and spend time with when work didn't keep him busy.

He was still the professor who became an astronaut and had participated in a mission in space. He had also met Hisui's piano teacher, who was one of Gen's closest friends, so he often took her there.

"Yes, love, don't worry, after I come home, I'll call him to remind it."

"Grandpa eats dinner with us?"

The man nodded. "Of course, if he has no other commitments..."

Hisui, satisfied with her short interview, smiled, looking at the dirty screen from her own fingerprints.

However Gen could not allow the conversation to end that way.

"Hisui-chan..." he called his daughter, not really knowing what he meant.

His doubts had intensified mainly because when someone was sick, they looked for the people was closest to and Senkuu had not asked anyone, as if in those three days he had been completely turned off. When he awoke, he had done nothing but look around, as if he had never seen the house in which they had lived for years. 

Even his expression as soon as he approached him was not the same as when he threw his arms around his neck after a day spent at work.

Gen couldn't even say it was just auto-suggestion. He knew all too well what manipulation and response from the mind of others was. His husband was different that morning and after accompanying Hisui to school, he would investigate. Gen knew what the suggestion was, but he was not immune to it.

"Hisui-chan..." called again his daughter who unlike before, she even gave her full attention pausing her game to watch him.

"Dad?" She whispered, noting his serious expression, however he was fleeting. Gen smiled at her, while keeping his gaze fixed on the road. 

"Why did you ask if Senkuu was your father before?" He asked, trying to seem as casual as possible. "You know, when we are having breakfast before..."

The girl shrugged and went back to her video game.

"Hisui-chan, when your dad asks you a question-"

"Ugh!"

"Hisui!"

The girl turned off the phone and placed it in the dashboard of the car. She pouted or at least pretended to look out the window angrily.

At that moment, Gen wondered if it wasn't better to enroll her in an acting course, so to not deny her talent to the entire world.

"Sweetie, you know you can tell me anything, don't you? If I asked you this, it's because I already know," Gen insisted, determined not to be beaten by his daughter.

"Hisui said that because father was different, father always hugs Hisui in the morning!"

Gen's lips remained parted, unable to move. He didn't know what to say and although he had the car in front of him, before his eyes and the school was getting closer, he could not record what his vision perceived or even any other sound around them.

Hisui had noticed it too. Hisui had also had the same impression.

"Hisui-chan," he stammered, recovering just in time to greet one of the guards who controlled the perimeter of the school with a nod. Next to him there were a few men busy sweeping away the snow that had fallen the night before. "Your father didn't embrace you because... he could have been infected with a fever, you know... of course your father is your father and he will embrace you as always!"

Hisui nodded without asking questions. By now, looking up, she realized that she had arrived at her destination.

Gen knew that the girl had a somewhat well-formed personality even though she was still small, but her fear of going to school had become more than a simple request for attention, and he suspected the reason.

"Dad, we have arrived," she considered.

"It will be all right and I am convinced that when Grandpa comes to pick you up for piano lessons, you will be very happy," Gen whispered, stroking her head and placing a kiss on her forehead. "We love you very much."

"Okay," replied Hisui. But her voice was at odds with her actions. She hugged his dad and murmured a _'I love you too'_ who got lost against Gen's soft sweater.

Then she took her backpack and opened the car door wide. She went down carefully and although she wanted to run to go beyond the gate, she resisted. Hisui strode away on the still cold path.

Gen didn't have time to look at her. From the rearview mirror, he already knew there were other cars lined up behind his. He leaned over to close the door and turn around fastly.

\---

After accompanying Hisui to school and especially Senkuu to work, Gen's routine continued with him and Keiichi shopping or running errands outside like buying some books, gifts or absolutely useless items in different shops and even walking in the park, before going home for lunch.

Then after eating, Gen started doing household chores (during the weekends there was a long general cleaning) while the baby slept.

As soon as Keiichi woke up, Gen's full attention was all for him. He changed his diaper, made him play, made him learn new things - he repeated words in both English and Japanese. Even if Keiichi was too young for difficult sounds, Gen wanted him be ready for the easiest ones - and above all they walked through the garden, if the day was warm enough and without snow (not in that season). Then Gen began to prepare dinner, waiting for the return first of Hisui and then of Senkuu.

When Gen sat down to dinner he was absolutely sure he had given everything for his family and was incredibly grateful to have lived that day.

The last hours before bed were the ones he preferred. Keiichi was the first to close his eyes after the bath. Then Hisui insisted on reading, but falls asleep halfway through the story that with the help of his father had started.

Finally Gen could snuggle with his husband, talking about the day, bathing together and falling asleep embraced and holding hands.

His routine was what came closest to happiness and even if someone would have called her unambitious, Gen had always wanted to have a united and loving family.

However...

However, that day was proving to be a ticking time bomb that threatened to take his everyday life away from him.

Senkuu was different, Hisui had said it too.

Gen had known Senkuu for more than ten years. He had seen him grow, give up, change his mind, make painful choices, accept compromises, learn to communicate with babies and then with children for the only desire to do it for their family, living love in many forms. Senkuu had become a husband and father, thanks to him and had dedicated the rest of his days to a job he had always wanted. 

Gen knew him better than anyone else and the man who had awakened and gone down to the kitchen for breakfast was not his Senkuu.

He looked like him a lots and probably he resembled him even more not only physically, but it was such a strange sensation... as if a version of a software, already updated, suddenly came back to its first version.

That Senkuu was not his Senkuu, but he **had been**.

\---

Even the time he took on the way back wasn't enough for Gen to understand what he had to do. He had made sure the car and garage were tightly closed and marched to the front door, entering quickly to close it behind him. He devoted himself to the alarm code, fearing that those seconds had cost him more than he should.

"Love, I'm back! Are you in the kitchen?" He took off his shoes and kept track of the silent seconds that passed. "My love, where are you?"

Senkuu didn't respond to his voice, making him already imagine the worst. Only when he finally saw him come out of the bathroom Gen calmed down and ran to meet him, hugging and kissing him. He breathed his scent to which he had been accustomed for years, but something inside him snapped, when Senkuu remained helpless in his arms without saying anything, without behaving like his husband, only being able to offer words of support that a person next to you from years he would never say.

Gen's fear linked to Senkuu's identity was also dictated by the distressing news of the escape of one of the most dangerous killers who still threatened the entire city. The idea that his family risked his carelessness made Gen much more nervous than usual and Senkuu, at least his Senkuu, knew it.

They had already talked about it when that news had become public knowledge. The moment for the whole city was not the best, but Senkuu wasn't afraid and thanks to him, Gen also felt he could do it... however now it seemed that the words spoken then were forgotten and Ishigami Senkuu never forgot.

Gen moved away, trying to focus on it. Senkuu was different, but this didn't mean that he wasn't the same person he married because he had never met a Doppelgänger and in fact for there to be a double, however, there should be the original first.

And as Senkuu always said, **_if something wasn't logical, there was no reason to exist_ **.

On the other hand, he couldn't even tell him that he wasn't his Senkuu directly. It would have given him a huge advantage. If it had been a look-alike or a disguise, that second Senkuu had bad intentions, a purpose... in a nutshell, he wanted to achieve something, even awful or dangerous. 

He could also have been that criminal, after all the police had said he was skilled in disguises and a villa like theirs was particularly in sight. The mere thought that he might be connected to what was going on in the city gave him chills.

Gen looked closely at his husband's features. He is identical to his one.

"Thanks, love. Maybe I have exaggerated a bit but we are all tense in these weeks... but what were you doing in the broken bathroom?" He asked, studying his expression.

Nothing.

There was no confusion or agitation on the face of the person he loved most in the world. Gen, though not entirely convinced, turned and walked to the door to close it again, looking inside to turn off the light. 

"I already told you that it doesn't matter to fix it now, by the way I'm going to get the thermometer..."

"Byakuya called," that Senkuu said, distracting him from his thoughts and at the same time reminding him that he needed to speak to his father-in-law. "I was unable to answer and it goes to the voicemail…" 

Gen's eyes widened and passed him to enter the living room. He could feel his heartbeat filling his rib cage as he couldn't stop thinking about why Byakuya had called. It was rare that he did it on the landline phone. However if it had been an urgent phone call, he would have tried again until they heard their voice. He was panicking and did not want to think that something had happened to his son and father-in-law.

Even when trafficking with the phone, Gen noticed however Senkuu's gaze on his body and how the other did not miss a single movement.

Every word that Byakuya's recorded voice said erased the weight on Gen's shoulders as he straightened up, letting go of the breath he had held too long.

He sniffled and after typing something, he blocked the receiver in the hollow between shoulder and neck. He looked briefly at Senkuu before returning to his former position.

"Papa-san," Gen greeted his father-in-law, playing on the telephone line, "I'm so happy to know you're okay! What is Keiichi-chan doing?"

"Hey, Gen! Fortunately everything is fine."

By Byakuya's voice, Gen was sure he wasn't lie. "Keiichi is playing with the car he has here. What's about my son?"

"Senkuu-chan has woken up, the fever has gone down, but I still have to measure it for him, but his forehead didn't burn."

"Thank goodness! I'm glad he's right! And the little princess?"

"Hisui-chan, on the other hand, made a fuss as always, but then she went to school quietly. She has piano lessons today."

"I'll take care of it, only be sure Senkuu is resting today."

"Yes, thank you very much!"

Gen stopped and only when Byakuya tried to hang up, he asked him if he could stay for dinner, the children would be happy and he would have been able to observe Senkuu more carefully.

It was then that he looked up at the man who had stood still in the doorway all the time, thinking of one question.

_Who really was he?_

_\---_

In a different circumstance, Gen would have been more than glad to have Senkuu's eyes on him while he was doing household chores or simply while they had lunch quietly. In a different circumstance, the presence of his beloved husband would have meant having the house all to themselves. 

Gen never complained that Senkuu worked late and that even he spend all his spare time closed in his laboratory, going out to sleep or to warn him that he could go to bed alone.

It was not very frequent, but not as rare as Gen would have liked. Senkuu loved him and had chosen to marry him, it was true, but for him would always exist his job, the only source of sustenance for their family, with the exception of Asagiri's villa and a few thousand dollars that his grandfather had left him.

In recent weeks, the entire city had stepped up defensive measures and Senkuu also tried to make felt his presence home. Gen knew he was doing it for their family and mainly for him.

However, such behavior made him feel guilty once again. Limiting his husband was the last thing he wanted.

So when he folded his pajamas just taken from the walk-in closet and picked up another clean towel, he couldn't help but look down on the tips of his feet, wondering if he might have misunderstood everything.

He knew from experience, since in his family there had been cases where stress had led people to confuse reality with the strangest ideas, that there was a possibility that he was exaggerating.

The man who was waiting for him could have been his husband slightly tired for three days with high fever. He sighed and went to the bathroom, not even bothering to close the bedroom door.

Senkuu was standing in the center of the room and was turning his back on him as when a buyer observed the room around him and didn't even care about the real estate agent who had accompanied him until then.

Not wanting to bother and above all he didn't want to look at his eyes once again, Gen knelt on the ground and moved the tap of the tub to check on water's temperature.

"I remembered you lazier," the voice that was approaching him commented after a few seconds, pronouncing the words more loudly to contrast that of the flow of the water.

Gen was unable to contract any muscles on his face to get a smile at his statement. His husband would never have called him that way, not so suddenly. It was clearly a lie. He knew how to recognize it, it had been his job, after all. Senkuu didn't remember him at all.

At least, **that** Senkuu.

Gen ran his fingers over the water level to test its temperature and, only when he noticed that he could no longer avoid it, since the tub was full, he gave him a single smile before turning off the tap.

"I love to do nothing, but I also have to do what is the best for my family... don't forget," he stopped with a sigh, standing up and running his fingers over his pants to dry them, "they said: _'responsibilities came first'_ , Senkuu-chan!"

Once again the man didn't react as his husband would have done, considering that they often said that phrase when they had the possibility of being alone for whole weekends, thanks to Byakuya who took care of the children.

Gen refrained from snorting.

The man in front of him who had chosen to replace his husband had underestimated how strong their bond could be.

He took the soap, the cloth, the stool and placed them next to the fountain as he tried to keep his guessworks real. He would have left everything he would need for the bathroom and would have left the room to look for any proof, even if he doubted to find them.

As soon as he finished, he checked Senkuu out of the corner of his eye that he was still standing and with his clothes on. His Senkuu would have already thrown what he wore on the floor whistling.

He adjusted his sweater and remembered to smile, looking at the door more than once as if he were counting the number of exact steps that separated him from the hallway.

"Senkuu-chan, it's time for your bath, if you need anything else, call me. Stay warm- "

"Wait," Senkuu stopped him, grabbing him by the wrist although his voice had already been enough to stop him. "Don't you want to take a bathe too?"

For a moment, Gen was sure he had heard wrong and that scene was happening only in his mind.

It was something that his husband would have done, indeed that he had done when they were engaged then and Gen had lost the last train, Senkuu was alone at home and above all it was clear to both that the passion that united them would not end with time.

_Was he really his husband or was it an unhealthy coincidence?_

He looked down at where Senkuu's hand was touching him. It was hot and his touch's pressure was wonderful. He could not deny the effect of his power on him.

Without having talked all the time, simply staring at him, he certainly had raised some questions so Gen decided to take a step behind voluntarily, perhaps he would have had some additional clarification. He turned his head slightly to sniff at his shoulder.

"I didn't say that for that!" Senkuu added, lowering his hand to slide it over his and grimaced. "You don't need a bath, I mean you might want to take it."

_"Well, Mentalist, you don't have to bathe, if you don't want to... but if you like, you should take off those clothes."_

_"It looks like a sentence from a porn, but I'm not complaining!"_

It was ridiculous that after more than ten years he even remembered their exact words. _Exactly how long had it been since they were just two teenagers in love, not too ready on what they should do to write their future? Did that phrase come out of his mouth with the intention of reminding him how their story started?_

The exchange of lines between people who knew they liked each other was unpredictable and almost disturbing for those who listened to them, however those who were engaged in a peaceful war of love never missed an opportunity to arouse the most particular image possible. Forgetting was equivalent to rejecting the other, there was no worse fear than being forgotten by those you loved with all your soul.

By now they could not have their innocence or hope back. Life had gone on and they with it. _If he had forgotten, how could he have brought it back to himself?_

A full smile, unlike the ones he had tried to put together, brightened his face. It had seemed to him that he had gone back in time, when a hypothesis such as that which was clouding his brain now, it would never exist.

Gen chuckled. He wanted to see how it would end.

"Ah... Senkuu-chan wants cuddles! Okay," he said in a low voice even though his intent was to be heard by the other man. It was so fast that Senkuu didn't even have time to protest. As soon as he saw him tinkering with his pajamas, Gen turned to face him and keep busy with what would be needed for the bathe itself.

He saw him take a seat, completely naked, waiting for him to wash him and almost forgot what was going on.

He took off his sweater so as not to wet it and staring at his own binder for a moment. He shrugged but continued to do what he had to.

He reached out to open the fountain.

"Love... don't catch a cold, okay? Your fever just broke, I know, but don't risk too much. I'll try to do it as quickly as possible," he said in a flat voice and paying too much attention to that weak thread of water.

Senkuu nodded as he heard the sound of the bath gel being opened.

Gen put his hand against the other man's back, touching him gently. He did not use the cloth he had taken so carefully. There was nothing that could hinder his touch.

"Ah, Senkuu-chan..." he sighed suddenly as he moved his fingers lower. He pressed them to the skin, moving them along curved lines as if he were following the stroke of a drawing.

He had done so many times but felt incredibly sad to see the skin reacted at his touch. He was only moving his fingers, but for his husband it was a hallmark and seeing his moles there made him to wonder once again if he had misunderstood everything.

However Senkuu was silent, unable to say anything, not even to stop him.

Gen's fingers described another semicircle and yet another as if the figures never ended.

"You're tense," he pointed out, pulling his face close to his and whispering against his still dry hair. "Do I have to remind you of something?"

Saying that word was extremely difficult for him but Gen eventually hoped he didn't seem insecure. If that wasn't his husband, he would certainly have done something to take revenge if his plan went wrong. He couldn't risk it.

The only sound that was heard was that of the water that continued to flow on the floor, sliding on the tiles and along the joints to the drain. And if Gen's thoughts had made a noise, that would have been heard too.

Faced with his silence, Gen took the cloth and continued to wash it, denying him the slightest contact of his fingertips. He trusted his instincts, trusted his family, trusted what was logical and his husband would never let his words fall on deaf ears. He could not touch an imposter.

"Senkuu-chan has an excellent memory," he commented. It was probably a gamble but only the thought that his Senkuu had been tortured and kidnapped forced him to do more.

And once again, his words were ignored.

It didn't matter, Gen, he told himself. He continued to wash it and opened his mouth only to warn him that he was about to pour water on him in order to rinse the foam.

"The infinite..."

Senkuu finally murmured. Gen's fingers that were tight around the handle of the bucket he had refilled loosened. That word was enough to make him lose his grip and drop the bucket. He didn't even have time to walk away that Senkuu turned to grab him by the wrist.

It was difficult to endure contact at the time.

They looked each other in the eyes until it was painful for Gen to support his gaze.

He closed his eyelids and hit the bucket which rolled somewhere next to the tub.

"The drawing you were tracing with your fingers like the first time we made love. You told me that's destiny between us and I..."

Gen opened his eyes suddenly. "Shut up, please," he pleaded. It was more painful than he expected. However, the other did not listen to him.

"... I told you that those who seek confirmation in such vague signs are actually subjugated by the Ba..."

"Don't…"

"The Barnum effect," Senkuu explained. "Where you have touched me, I have three moles. Or at least It's what you repeated to me. You said that while your fingers draw a infinite symbol. You laughed as you said you would do it every time, every day but not for destiny. You would have done it for the desire to be together. Ours desire."

Gen finally looked up again at Senkuu's breathless face.

"Actually I also told you that sappy thing after having an orgasm, I didn't care at all to hear you say words with more than one syllable in that situation... but yes. What I wanted to hear was... that..."

"It's pretty romantic actually," he spontaneously commented.

Gen shrugged. 

Romantic was the last adjective that the world would use for Senkuu and he too would have felt a bit of fake annoyance in talking about such a thing, even in the intimacy of the bathroom of their home.

"It happens when you're with someone who means a lot to you."

The words came out of his mouth spontaneously and, probably even after thinking about it, he would have said the same.

Senkuu meant a lot to him and he knew it was mutual.

They were silent.

Both were too intelligent not to know that the series of questions that only the other could try to answer was still in the air without being able to take shape.

Senkuu snickered and finally let go of his grip around Gen's wrist.

And he spoke: "It's really true. Senkuu Ishigami has an excellent memory."

He couldn't move as much, yet he felt he had to run away or at least get something to defend himself.

He opened his mouth to reply but could not say anything. He waited for him to continue talking.

"I also have a very good memory," he added.

_What did he mean? Did he know that Gen suspected something and wanted to know what had happened to his husband?_

"All his memories are..."

"I guess... he's not here anymore, am I right?" Gen interrupted him, taking his sweater and clutching it to his chest. Faced with his silence, he backed away a couple of steps. "You are identical to him, yet you are not my husband."

He saw Senkuu lower his gaze to his body. His skin had reacted to the amplified cold and the water was dripping on him.

"I," Senkuu sighed, not showing however that he wanted to continue his sentence. It was the only confirmation he could give him at that moment and Gen understood it.

"I'd better take your bath and get you dressed," Gen advised, turning his back on him this time without further thought. "I don't want to be in the same room with a naked man who isn't my husband."

It was absurd and that dull pain that compressed his chest reminded him with every movement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Déjà vu: a french expression that it could be translated like "already seen". Although some interpret déjà vu in a paranormal context - as prophecy -, science explain it as the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before.  
> Déjà vu may depend especially in stressful times and be associated with psychiatric illness (in very little cases). The other and more frequent type of Déjà vu is the non-pathological one.


	5. The master of lies and the lord of truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Any mentalist trick can't be enough for the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♤ The second chapter I wrote for this double update! There are a lots of dialogue for explain a few details even if there are many questions to answer to. In this week I want to reach more even if the angsty point is still far or not... who knows 👀
> 
> ◇ The translation could be even worst than usual so sorry! 🙏🏻

It was absurd to think that Gen's reaction was why Senkuu felt hurt.

In fact, in his whole life, it had never happened to him to be close to a person as much as to Gen and it was even more absurd to believe that something had happened ( _what then?_ ) that had transferred him to the body of another man… himself with a few more years, actually.

He had spent all his time, heedless of the water in which he had just immersed himself, repeating in his mind how absurd this was, but if there was one thing he was 100% sure of, it was that what wasn't explainable through science, it didn't really exist. 

And he was also sure that even his adult version thought so.

His husband Gen, on the other hand, had managed to demonstrate even more confidence than he was in dealing with him, despite the terrible news of not knowing where his husband had gone. Or maybe that was exactly why he introduced the subject. Gen was frantically searching for answers.

Whatever their current relationship was, Senkuu understood that both, he and Gen, had the same goal: to understand what was going on and return to the normal as quickly as possible. Both Senkuu and his adult version had plans for their own life that included different protagonists. He had chosen the family while Senkuu wanted to reach the stars.

As relaxing as the hot water was, Senkuu came out of the tub and wrapped himself in the towel, determined to dry as quickly as possible. Every minute that passed weighed on his heart. He didn't know Gen, his rational part reminded him of it while observing the condition on the large mirror in front of which he was dressing, but he couldn't stand the idea that he had inadvertently hurt him.

Gen was unknown to him, but he didn't feel him as a stranger.

He would have told him what he understood and remembered so far as absurd as it seemed to him, even another person could have helped him understand himself.

\---

Still with his hair dripping on his neck, Senkuu entered the nearest room, the same one where he had awakened, unaware of everything, that morning.

Gen stood still with his turn back, busy looking through the window into what should have been the garden of their home, given the location of the room. Even if it was afternoon, there was less sun than in the morning. Senkuu didn't even have time to clear his throat to call him the other man sighed.

"Ah, Senkuu-chan ..."

His voice was incredibly low and, even if he would had looked him in the eye, Senkuu had clearly understood that he was not talking to him.

"Thanks for the bath, I wouldn't have ..." He confessed at once, surprising himself not to know how to continue. _Shouldn't I have pretended to be another person even if the situation wasn't the best?_

"You are dressed, right?" The other replied, stiffening and ignoring his thanks. "If you are not..."

"You can turn around, I wear pajamas," he was forced to reassure him.

Gen finally turned around. His expression was hostile, very different from the sweetness with which he had taken care of his husband in the kitchen on that morning.

"Well, while you were in the bathroom, I thought and came to the conclusion that you are not dangerous and what is main, it is not your fault. Whatever it is, I mean," he explained, trying to be as detached as possible. "So I'll be direct..." Gen stopped to give Senkuu time to assimilate what he had just finished saying, so much so that the other man, before nodding, wondered what he meant by his words. "What is your real name?"

The question did not catch him unprepared, he had been waiting for it since Gen had shown that he suspected him.

"Ishigami Senkuu," he replied, stiffening anyway. "I don't have any more," he added, refusing his silence.

"So besides being the exact copy of my husband, are you named after him?" Gen investigated, crossing his arms against his chest. His expression was almost neutral although he suspected - whoever would have - of him.

"Yes, my name is Ishigami Senkuu. I was born on January 4th 2004..."

"Even his same date of birth! And I bet your blood type is 0!"

"No, it's the A."

For a second, the apathy on his face cracked.

"You have to know my husband very well, considering that he doesn't reveal much about himself to strangers... not to mention what you said in the bathroom... are you Ishigami Senkuu?" Gen said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Any other word would have been superfluous. All Gen's emotions were more confused than before.

Senkuu remained silent, standing still, not even trying to get close to him. He put a hand to the back of his neck to massage it, but even that attempt to calm his nerves failed.

"I have the feeling that we could go on and on, but you would keep answering like him... exactly like him..." Gen finally said, avoiding his gaze. "I was hoping... I was hoping it was a joke or something, but Senkuu-chan would never have done this kind of thing, least of all me."

Senkuu's lower lip twitched in a half smile, struck by the strength of their bond.

Once again he marveled.

He would never have thought of having such an important person on his side in the future.

"It's not a joke, I'm as confused as you are now," he replied. "It all started when I woke up this morning in this house, without knowing where I was. I thought I had to go to school with... Taiju."

"Ooki Taiju-chan?" Gen cut him off. That name came out of his mouth aloud in surprise. "Both he and Senkuu-chan could only go to school for **their** children."

_Had Taiju become a father?_

For a moment Senkuu risked asking it aloud, except to be silent in time. He would probably have had a chance to meet him, if Gen also knew him. And most importantly, Taiju also existed in his adult life.

"Dreaming about going to school is less common in people of our age... wait, you said you thought you had to go to school, so wasn't it a dream?"

Although his question seemed somewhat natural, Senkuu warned that he was trying to make him falter.

"No, I just thought I had to go to school like every other day," he explained. There was no need to defend yourself against mental games if you had the truth on your side.

"Did you think you were a professor? Even though Taiju-chan is a rather rare vision..." the other man joked giving him a half smile.

"No, I was a student ..."

Gen raised an eyebrow.

"Student," he repeated. "Did you mean university? Well, my husband studied a lot, maybe you had a sort of amnesia on some more recent memory... it happens if you receive a shock strong enough... even if after the fever I have never heard..."

"High school."

"... cases of people witho... high school? What do you mean by high school?"

"Every morning," Senkuu looked at him, "Taiju and I go to high school together. I'm also the president of the chemistry club."

"High school, chem... so you're... like 18 years old?"

"15 years, 4 months and 30 days."

"15 and a half years. Of course, you're almost 16 years old. Of course, I believe it."

Senkuu grimaced, recording Gen's sarcastic tone.

"I'm 15 years, 4 months and 30 days old," he repeated with the same confidence as before. "I lived 5629 days."

Gen's eyes widened upon hearing the count of the individual days. He knew very well how his husband managed to count over thousands, each time with less effort than the previous one.

However, it was not further disturbed.

"But if you said you're from 2004, how can you be almost 16? You know what year we are in, right? If you're my husband with no memories, well you couldn't have them!"

Senkuu nodded.

"I look like your husband, I am aware that it is not Monday 3rd June 2019 but I don't remember throwing that calendar, so..."

"Monday 3rd June 2019? We didn't even know each other then!"

At the same time, both Senkuu and Gen formulated an identical thought but neither of them said it aloud.

"Let's pretend you're ... my husband when he wasn't even my boyfriend, okay? How come you're here now? If you are a time traveller - that my husband wouldn't hear me say something like that - you wouldn't have to be more? Was there the past you and the present you, I mean? Shouldn't you be younger? You can't replace yourself, even the stupidest movie takes this option in its screenplay."

"I am not a simply time traveler."

Gen waited for the other to complete the sentence but had no luck.

"This I had guessed! Time travel is a ridiculous option that challenges physics itself but...?"

"But what?"

Gen rolled his eyes.

"But what did you do? How come you ended up here and where is my husband?!"

The speed of his questions was the only thing that betrayed his agitation.

Senkuu went to the bed, sitting next to Gen who did not lose a single movement, peering at him with narrowed eyes.

"We will find out and also find out how to go back to my time... and space."

Even without making any noise, Senkuu realized that Gen was upset. He looked at him and noticed his lips stretched out in a flat line.

"My husband is very intelligent... if we could find him, he could send you from where you came out, you know?"

"I guess your husband can do anything!" He replied, finding his tone unbearable. Until now he had considered how Gen had felt, but apparently he had not been mutual.

"Of course he would! My husband finished his studies two years earlier than everyone else and is the youngest astrophysicist who can boast of this title! Every year he wins a prize for his research and collaborates with writers and screenwriters for scientific advice!" babbled and continued to do so.

His was not a real effort, but it seemed to Senkuu that his chest swollen with pride showed no sign of lowering.

"My husband is extraordinary! If there is a person who can save the world from his degradation, that is him. I have never met someone more intelligent than him! He knows and studies everything for the love of knowledge since he was a child! Even as a child he was the best... Not to-"

"Apparently a very hectic career awaits me!" Senkuu interrupted him, recognizing himself in some of his words.

A simple comment irritated Gen so much that he forgot the pride that filled his chest and all the praise for her husband.

"Didn't you say you didn't travel through time? You and my husband are said to be the same person in this life... maybe it's not your destiny," he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

The other man didn't insist anymore. "Likely."

Then he got up and walked over to the window, inadvertently copying the same position he had found Gen a few minutes earlier.

The soft sun of that day had melted some of the snow in the garden. It was winter, so a season completely different from what he remembered.

"You should dry your hair better before approaching the window. You will get a fever again, if you get cold."

He didn't even have time to reply that he felt himself shake and wrap his head in a towel. He looked up, meeting Gen's eyes which widened for their eye contact. He saw him go as soon as he realized he was too close, that he had treated him like his husband.

"Sorry... but Senkuu-chan always forgets to dry his hair," he said, studying his face.

In every single detail, at least physical, was his Senkuu. Through his eyes, Gen saw him first moved and then out of focus. A tear would fall soon, and then another. He turned just in time and marched towards the wide open door. "I need a few minutes alone, sorry. My house is yours... for now."

\---

Senkuu could pretend that the house was his, but as he had done in the past few hours, his presence there was completely foreign. He sat on the bed or on the armchair just to get up immediately, before opening a drawer, he looked around as if he had to look for someone to ask for permission... yet he wasn't like that. Often they told him that he was very impulsive and not very inclined to the company of others, which is why he preferred to stay in the chemistry club at school or in his own room at home.

While waiting for Gen to return, he also found documents of his future self, reading what corresponded to his data. The name, surname, date of birth, city, the other data had changed over time such as marital status and residence.

 _If it wasn't explainable with science, it didn't exist, did it?_ He found himself wondering, feeling his own thought wobble with every word.

He put down the man's wallet and left the bedroom. He had to find Gen and ask him questions. He had let the comparison reassure him without getting some more information to analyze the situation. He tried to enter the room next to the bathroom, but found Hisui's room and afterwards the nursery. When he came back to try to open the other door and pull the handle, it lowered and found himself face to face with the person he was looking for.

"O my god! I was about to fall," Gen muttered, even though Senkuu didn't believe him for a moment. He was perfectly balanced in front of him and even from his expression it was clear how much his words detached from reality.

Then the other man held out his hands and the papers he was holding to push Senkuu out of the doorway. He turned and pulled the door to close it behind him. "This room is off limits for you! You may be a spy who wants to steal my husband's job after all," he scowled in a frown.

Senkuu had collected the crumpled pages that Gen had thrown on him without a precise order and as soon as he recorded his words, he felt the urge to throw them on the ground.

"You've seen too many movies maybe, I could never steal from your husband because technically I am your husband."

"Yes, of course, you're my husband," he replied with a grimace, inserting the key with which he had locked the door in her pocket in the meantime. "Read those sheets, it's all the information you will need when the children arrive shortly. Then clearly don't be closer to them and me. You are not their father, you are not my husband. Until we find out what happened, I can't kick you out!"

Gen had started walking and Senkuu was forced to follow him, still unable to read the important sheets.

They went down the stairs as Gen's voice became increasingly annoyed.

"Tonight - and how long you will stay - you will sleep in the guest room, you cannot sleep with me or act like him with her husband, it would be cheating! However, you will only go to the other room when Hisui has fallen asleep. She may hear you walking in the corridor and ask why. Hisui is smart, already when I used the excuse of fever for your coldness this morning, she didn't believe me so much. So try to be affectionate with her, " Gen stopped to look at him. 

"You said I don't have to come close-" 

"Now!" Gen resumed his speech, leaving him no chance to reply. "For everything you need to do, think about it, count until 10 and ask yourself what a 30-year-old man would do with a family to manage. If it is as you say, that you are my husband, even if you are 16 years old, it shouldn't be that difficult, right?"

Senkuu avoided answering him, feeling his dissent clear.

"Tomorrow you have to go to work, I wrote you what I know. Keep a low profile and above all behave as my husband would do or what you will do at his age..." he repeated defiantly.

Senkuu put a finger into his ear as he done for habit, but from the other man's gaze he sensed that over time he had stopped doing it.

"Here, avoid doing this kind of stuff in front of the children or in front of your father... or anyone else."

"Since you became more asshole while you were writing this information, what exactly did you think alone?" Senkuu finally spoke the words he wanted to say, without even having to worry about filtering them or without stopping touching his ear.

"Not... _my dear Senkuu-chan_ ," he pronounced after taking a wide sigh, making the sign of the quotation marks while saying his name, "you know, my husband is convinced that if something cannot be explained..."

"With science, it doesn't exist? It's already something I say too."

The mocking smile that Gen had worn so far vanished, replaced by an annoyed grimace.

"Of course, of course."

Senkuu entered the living room. As soon as he heard Gen's footsteps following him, he sank down onto the sofa, raising his feet on the coffee table.

"Immediately lower your legs from there! It's crystal!" Gen ordered him in such a severe voice that Senkuu obeyed quickly, straightening up on the pillow and squeezing the sheets to read them better while the other man worried about cleaning the surface of the table with a cloth.

Senkuu chose to ignore it.

The change of Gen was visible before and after confirmation that something had changed.

It was not easy to convince a suspicious person who had lost his consort in an unusual and obscure way, perhaps forever, perhaps for a few days.

Determined to resolve as soon as possible, he began to read the sheets he had written for him, curious to find out if there were (or still were) memories of the family in his mind.

The first reported a table with allergies, age, information about the character and activities their children carried out. Hisui was as allergic to lacquer as he was. The second sheet reported how their relationship was with their family and finally a couple of pages on Senkuu at work.

Incredible how he had used those minutes before to regain his control and summarize their lives so as not to let anyone notice that change, however absurd it was.

He was suspicious yes, but not stupid.

"Read faster, I think they are coming... indeed papa-san should have already called me to have me open the gate," he said, moving the shutter to check what he had just announced.

After that he left, probably to prepare dinner, leaving Senkuu to his reading.

\---

When Gen turned on the television and placed a vase with blue flowers on the table, Senkuu jumped. He had dozed off, letting the characters of the printed letters mingle in front of his eyes to become an indistinguishable black mass. He rubbed his eyes and stood up.

"Senkuu-chan is used to getting tired... After dinner, we are all exhausted to do nothing but get ready for sleep, so hold on for a couple of..." Gen stopped, touching his leg. "This must be papa-san," he said, retrieving the phone as it started ringing. "Hello? Yes, I am coming," he replied, approaching the window to check out and then he turned off the alarm and went out.

Senkuu folded the sheets and put them in his pajama pocket while a summary of the life of the people who were about to enter the house filled his memory... people who were his reason for everything.

As soon as the door opened, preceded by a rapid succession of steps, Hisui looked into the house with suspicion, stopping in the hall as soon as she noticed Senkuu in the living room. The man joined her and stroked her head.

"Welcome back, Hisui," Senkuu murmured and the girl smiled.

"Get you two out of the door," Gen entered, checking that Byakuya and Keiichi were also close. "I have to put the alarm on, move."

"Don't make Gen nervous," Byakuya chuckled, surpassing the others.

Senkuu looked at him expectantly, he had never been happier and relieved to see him again. His father reached out to Senkuu who shook it, wondering how their relationship had evolved over the years.

Byakuya pulled him close, embracing him, but at the same time being careful not to drop his nephew who meanwhile looked at Senkuu with his eyes full of expectation. He was used to receiving a quick caress from his father.

Gen didn't reply, busy making sure that the security system had been activated.

Only then did he take his daughter by the hand and join the men still united in that clumsy embrace.

"Sorry," he muttered and grabbed Keiichi from Byakuya's arms before he could leave him in Senkuu's ones. He kissed the boy's forehead and went with him to the sofa. "Dinner is almost ready, make yourself comfortable now."

Senkuu and Byakuya both looked struck by his reaction for different reasons.

"Keiichi-chan you missed me, right?" Gen murmured to his son, leaving small kisses on his face. He was not interested in anyone else but his children.

Keiichi chuckled softly, snuggling up to him while Hisui clung to his leg, drawing his dad's attention. "Hisui wants kisses too!"

"Nooo!" The girl protested without rebelling when he kissed her on the hair and nose.

Byakuya hugged Senkuu again.

"Even if you grow up, you children are all the same to us parents, you know," he said and let him go.

"I know well," Senkuu replied softly, merely repeating his words. Before that morning he was 15, thinking about what it meant to have children had never been part of his plans. However, since Byakuya - in his time and space - had left for his mission, he had been missing even if he would never have said it out loud.

"So, how are you? You never get sick so seriously, you scared me," he said, "lately with the murderer's escape we are all tense, not..."

Senkuu didn't even have time to inquire about what he had heard.

"Why did it take you so long to come back? I thought something had happened," Gen interrupted him, placing Keiichi better in his arms. "What have you done?"

Byakuya looked away guilty. "Ehm..."

"Hisui, what have you done?" Gen investigated without wasting time, even if the girl was busy fiddling with the remote control to change channels.

"Granpa accompanied me to Chika to..."

"Chika-san or Chika-sensei, considering she's your piano teacher," he corrected. "And then?"

"Then what?"

Gen rolled his eyes.

"Then what did you do?"

"We came here," the girl answered proudly and Gen had to admit that he was about to give in. There were no signs of lies on her sweet face. Or so it seemed.

"Okay, enough..." Byakuya uneasily spelled, "you must excuse me, but we ate an ice cream..."

Hisui protested. "Nooo, granpa! You shouldn't have said that!"

Senkuu tried not to laugh as Gen opened his mouth in surprise, hurt from having almost fallen into her trap. He left Keiichi on the sofa, standing up to face his father-in-law.

"Then why?"

"Then why what?"

"It runs in the family! WHY did you go to get ice cream BEFORE dinner? How many times have I said it's not good?"

"Dad!"

Gen ignored Hisui, waiting for Byakuya's answer to try to calm him down.

He did not notice Senkuu who had knelt to speak to the child.

"I haven't seen my princess for days, I wanted to buy her something good, I could wait, I know, but I hoped it wasn't a problem."

"No, before dinner you don't have to spoil your and her appetite like that," Gen said aloud before approaching his father-in-law and covering his cheek with his hand. "Hisui is already spoiled, if we let her do everything, it ends badly," he whispered. It was then that he turned and noticed his daughter who was talking to Senkuu. His expression, not visible thanks to his position, could not be explained with any valid reason to his father-in-law, fortunately he did not have to motivate it.

"Sorry father, I won't do it anymore and I'll eat everything tonight and if I don't want to... I want to finish everything, I say it."

"Thanks, Hisui," Senkuu replied and gave her a quick caress before getting up. "Isn't it better when we all eat together?"

The girl nodded.

"I still amaze myself when I see it... how much my Senkuu has grown," Byakuya whispered to Gen, drawing his attention again.

"Yes, you can't imagine how much Senkuu has changed. So much changed," he replied, smiling with effort.

"Ah, listen, can I sleep here or are there problems? Tomorrow I can also accompany Hisui to school and Senkuu to work so you make up time with Keiichi, what do you say?"

In his plans, Byakuya's request was not foreseen, but he did not show it.

"Of course, stay here, it's never a problem!" He answered. "Okay, but now let's go wash our hands," he remembered aloud.

"I'll take care of it, don't worry," Byakuya offered, before heading to the younger grandson, who meanwhile had reached the sister's piano under which he had hidden his favorite doll.

"Now go with your grandfather to wash your hands, Hisui," Senkuu said, getting back on his feet and letting the girl extend her hand to Byakuya with which she headed for the staircase.

Left alone, Senkuu and Gen looked at each other in silence except for the voices that came from the television still on.

Gen opened his mouth to say something but just closed it again. He took the remote control and paid too much attention to the screen in front of him, as if the red key he had to press had fun disappearing from the keyboard.

Then he turned straight to the kitchen. Senkuu followed him.

The table in the large kitchen, less lit than that morning, was not yet set.

"We eat in the dining room this time, this table is too small," he replied to Senkuu's thoughts. He looked over his shoulder. "Try to talk as little as possible, eat and then go to sleep. It's more than likely that you're tired. I didn't think Byakuya wanted to stay here, that's a problem..."

"I will try not to look suspecting, I am still his son."

"Not in this life, though," Gen ruled. His hands tightened around the edges of the oversized sleeves. He regretted having said it. "Rather, finish reading what I wrote for you," he added even though he suspected Senkuu had read and memorized everything. He had previously shown him that with the right stimuli, the memories of a life together would return to their place, however he made no mention of it. Admitting it meant believing that an absurd thing like a body swap had happened before his eyes.

Gen moved and turned off the oven, leaving what he had still cooked in the pan.

"Thanks for what you did before, I mean with Hisui." He stopped and Senkuu waited for it to continue. "That little girl took too much from me, it will be that the first book I read was mine but..."

"Are you a writer?" Senkuu asked him, making him immediately regret - and again - having commented.

"No, I am or rather I was a mentalist... the best in Japan, or so they said," he explained, hesitating on what he should say or not. His Senkuu already knew this and he wouldn't care much about that.

"But you have foreign origins, that's why this house looks so different from the ones I know."

Gen smiled.

"Yes, part of my family is American, I'm not really Japanese... you have excellent observation skills," he sighed. He stopped their short conversation and raised his hands to take the dishes from the cabinet on the kitchen.

"If my father stays here, I can't sleep in the guest room. So do I sleep on the sofa?"

As long as Byakuya asked him to stay, Gen had linked what he had said earlier to the _'second'_ Senkuu, not being ready to tell him about his new arrangement.

"No, it wouldn't be justifiable! If papa-san woke up before us and went down to the living room, he would see you there and immediately understand that something is wrong," he whispered. "And lower the voice they can hear us. Tonight you will sleep in the..., tonight you will sleep in my and my husband's room, but don't get used to it."

"I don't. Don't be afraid and I promise that I will bring your husband back here. I too have not yet accepted that I am finished here, that I am hindering your lives. I proposed that you collaborate. After all, we have the same goal."

"What goal?"

Senkuu and Gen turned around, finding Hisui who had arrived in the kitchen before Byakuya and Keiichi. The little girl waited for an answer, but her parents looked for signs to understand how much of their words she had heard.

"Dinner, honey," Gen replied sweetly. Now knowing a brief hint of his past, Senkuu appreciated his talent better. "If you washed your hands, go sit in the dining room, okay? We're almost ready."

"Okay!" The girl replied with less arrogance than usual and Gen wondered if what Senkuu had told her hadn't affected her behavior.

"Be careful," Gen growled next to Senkuu. "You can't imagine Hisui how smart she is, I already told you. She is a child, but I wouldn't underestimate her."

"I won't do that."

Gen handed him the dishes and put on the potholders.

"Anyway yes, let's cooperate, I want my husband back!"

Senkuu's mouth twitched into a grin.

"You will get him back, mentalist!"

\---

"The princess ran away, lifting her robe a bit so as not to stumble and the evil prince quickly lost her tracks... Meh, considering that she wore shoes not suitable for running, how did she sow a man who had probably undergone a rigorous training?"

Senkuu, when Hisui had asked him to read a fairy tale as he always did, did not expect to be faced with a set of clichés that only adults could be recognized for what they were. It was absurd that young minds found themselves absorbed in the illogical stories of princes and princesses.

"But the princess runs away so as not to be found again!" Hisui reminded him and considered that his flow of consciousness had been well accepted, it meant that Senkuu used to comment with his impressions what he read. "I don't see anything wrong with it!"

"No, in fact, but he was at a disadvantage from the beginning."

The girl crouched against the pillow and yawned.

"Dad always says that everyone can do everything if they dedicate their time and their strength to that. Perhaps the princess trained her too, or the prince skipped his own lessons for making evil plans."

"Would you skip your lessons?" He asked her, remembering the scenes that the little girl performed every day in order not to go to school.

"No! I wouldn't... but..."

After a few seconds, Senkuu whispered:

"Is the sentence already over?"

Hisui laughed, clutching a teddy bear, that looked incredibly soft, in her arms.

"I don't want something bad to happen to us," she replied and if Senkuu hadn't been careful enough, he would have mistaken that whisper as an outside noise.

"Nothing will happen to us, your dad... and I would never allow it, nobody can ever defeat us," Senkuu replied, not detaching himself excessively from the truth. 

Gen had shown that he loved and protected his family more than anything else.

"What about the killer?" Hisui continued, "Will they capture him? We have a villa, they can do bad things to us, they can do bad things to us!"

"Where did you hear that?"

Gen had never mentioned something like this and Byakuya had been interrupted as soon as he mentioned it.

 _'Of course,'_ Senkuu said to himself, but preferred for the moment to listen to Hisui. His daughter.

"Grandpa was saying to Dad the other week when you were working here at home. He also said that on Sunday we had to get the Christmas decorations but he forgot."

"And you said this to your dad?"

The girl settled better under the covers, refusing to answer.

"Nothing will happen, we won't allow it, you feel calm and don't refuse to go to school for this."

"But I...!"

Senkuu had done nothing but connect the data in his possession. Hisui's fear, the anxiety of Gen and Byakuya and above all that little important detail that her dear husband had preferred to keep silent, probably to test his good faith, had offered him a clear answer.

"Going to school is boring. Especially when you have so many questions to answer, so many books to read or experiments to do, but that's what you need to do at your age. Don't be afraid of what you can't control, but have fun with what you have."

The girl looked at him confused.

"So I just have to go to school?"

"Yes, you also have piano lessons... aren't you afraid when you go there?"

Hisui shook her head.

"There's nothing to fear, Hisui, and I'm pretty sure Gen would say the same to you too. Trust your parents."

"Okay... but finish the story now?"

Senkuu looked at the book he still had in his hands and smiled.

"As you wish, little princess."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ♧ Not psychological/scientific terms this time, just a reference to Gen (master of lies) and Senkuu (lord of truth).
> 
> ♡ I had a little hard time with numbers but thanks to this tweet, I use those ones: https://twitter.com/CDCubed/status/993519672392810498?s=19 I don't remember who answer me on twitter with this link (I can't find the screen I made to remember) but you saved me, thank you so much 😭💘

**Author's Note:**

> Every chapter will or may have a title from psychological/medical/philosofical spheare... the main theme of this story and my theory will appear soon!  
> 


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